A Palette of Behavioural Interventions One of the biggest challenges facing program designers is to imagine the full range of interventions available to them. This two-page tool sets them out simply and accessibly. Get the tool.
How to craft a persuasive climate change message It's time to shift the climate change discussion from facts to actions. Here's an example of how to do it, based on lessons from behavioural psychology. Download (1.1Mb PDF).
The 5 Doors Confused by behaviour change theories? Here's one that wraps some of the best thinking into 5 simple principles. It's guaranteed to generate insights that change the way you work. 5 Doors Theory (147k PDF). 5 Doors diagram (12k PDF).
Invitations you can't say "no" to The messenger is just as important as the message. What are the qualities of a great inviter and what are the components of a great invitation? At last, Chapter 8 of How to Change the World is available to read.
FAQs about behaviour change The same questions about behaviour change come up again and again. Here are some answers that might be useful. This article first appeared in
The Guardian. (86k PDF)
What enables cycling? This study, carried out for the City of Sydney, will be of interest to anyone wanting to increase cycling in their communities.
Download the study. (1.5Mb PDF)
Download the cycling logic model (168k PDF)
The dark side of regulating behaviour - the case of seat belt laws Seat belt laws were supposed to make us all safer. Amazingly, after 40 years there is still no certainty about whether they have done so. Instead seat belt laws demonstrate some of the unexpected "blow-backs" that undermine attempts to legislate behaviour.
Download. (246k PDF)
The problem with Social Marketing - why you can't sell change like soap This paper presents a critique of Social Marketing. Why the answer to "wicked" problems requires different approaches. The paper. (140k PDF)
Enabling Change: the process and the theory Here, for the first time, is the step-by-step methodology and the theoretical background to the Enabling Change method of program design.
The Enabling Change process (260k PDF)
5 Doors Theory (147k PDF). 5 Doors diagram (12k PDF).
Introduction to the Diffusion of Innovations A succinct introduction to the model of change that focuses on innovation design, viral communications, and satisfying the needs of users. Download (259k PDF)
[This article is very popular. It's been downloaded over 11,000 times in the past 6 months.]
To all who participated: thanks for sharing your stories about how the training changed your work.
Here are the winners:
Judy Warner of NQ Dry Tropics, for the Healthy Habitat program involving 88 landholders on Alligator Creek and Black River. The program demonstrated how providing opportunities for landholders to come together and talk about their experience on the land, plus support and skill-building, helped them protect native habitat without incentive funding.
Margaux Park of Bankstown City Council, for applying behaviour change principles to two waste programs with great results, including wording a flyer so that 1200 vehicles arrived for a single day of e-waste collection.
Neil Bull of Murray Irrigators (a participant in the Facilitation Skills training) for successfully facilitating a meeting between a passionate group of local farmers and the CEO of the Murray Darling Basin Authority.
Your copies of Enabling EcoAction are in the post.
Some nice insights into social change:
Change and social networks Nicholas Christakis' TED talk on the groundbreaking research with James Fowler that demonstrates how obesity, smoking and happiness (and lots more) travel along social networks. [Ah-hah moment: our little viral messages and conversations are gifts that bind our networks together!].
The power of first followers Derek Sivers' Lessons from the Dancing Guy - a beautiful depiction of diffusion in action, and a reflection on the power of "first followers".
What REALLY motivates people? Dan Pink's entertaining video on why incentives so often backfire and how we are at our best when simply given a chance to be good.
Les Robinson is Australia's preeminent trainer and strategist on the design of behaviour change programs.
Les consults widely on the design of behavioural programs. He trains managers in the fields of sustainability, health promotion, road safety, natural resource management and emergency management. He facilitates strategic forums, workshops, community events and conferences.
Les's blog, CHANGEOLOGY, is about what it takes to make change happen. Subscribe for insights, ideas and innovations.
Les is currently excited by:
OpenIDEO This site, launched in August 2010 by global design firm IDEO, enables social, health and environmental problems to be tackled by virtually unlimited communities of collaborators through a process of inspiration, concepting and evaluation. No more need exhausted committees sit around wondering why they can't solve the world's problems with their own comparatively tiny cognitive resources.
The New Organizing Institute Toolbox We forget that behind every great project there is grass-roots leadership. The NOI has produced this simple but powerful training guide for grass-roots leaders, building on the great American tradition of community organizing.
Online book now available
Download (for free) the first five chapters of the book that will change forever the way you think about change.
Chapter 8. Find the right inviter Not anyone can successfully invite a change in behaviour. This chapter reveals the qualities of effective inviters and the formula for great invitations.
The Heath Brothers are amongst the deepest, most inspiring and clearest thinkers about making change happen. You can freely download their superb books Made to Stick and Switch.
Les Robinson is Australia's preeminent trainer and strategist on the design of behaviour change programs.
Download (for free) the